A55 LACK OF EXPERIMENTAL REPRODUCIBILITY IN PRECLINICAL RESEARCH IS INFLUENCED BY THE NUTRITIONAL PROFILE OF STANDARD RODENT CHOWS
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Background Lack of experimental reproducibility, particularly in studies investigating the microbiota, is of growing concern to the scientific community. Factors such as environment, stress, and sex have been identified as contributors, whereas dietary composition has received less attention. Aims To profile the use of standard rodent chows in research institutions, analyze the nutrient content of common rodent chows, and assess the impact of different chows on microbiota profiles. Methods A survey was conducted to evaluate which rodent chows are used by research institutions worldwide. Seven standard rodent chows were selected for analysis of ingredients, fermentable carbohydrate (FODMAP) and gluten content. FODMAP content was measured by high-performance liquid-chromatography and enzymatic assays, and gluten content was assessed by a commercial kit using G12 antibody. Forty C57BL/6 mice were randomized to 4 groups of 10 mice (5 male, 5 female). Group A was euthanized at baseline. Group B received the breeding institution chow (LabDiet 5066). Group C received ResearchDiets AIN93G (low FODMAP and gluten content). Group D received LabDiet 5001 (high FODMAP and gluten content). After 3 weeks, cecal contents were collected and analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing; short- and branched-chain fatty acids (SCFA, BCFAs) content was also determined. Results Twenty-eight different types of rodent chows were reported to be used by 45 international survey respondents. Ingredient composition of the standard chows varied widely, resulting in differences in FODMAP and gluten content. Microbiota analysis of cecal contents revealed that gut microbiota composition was altered by the standard chows, as reflected by significantly different clusters in β-diversity analysis as well as by altered α-diversity. Microbiota diversity was also influenced by sex in Groups A and B (p<0.01). Total SCFA levels were lower (p=0.03) and BCFA levels were higher (p=0.01) in Group C compared to Group B. Conclusions Our results suggest that the composition of the diet not only significantly impacts gut microbiota profiles and fermentation patterns but may also emphasize sex differences in preclinical studies, with major implications for the reproducibility of results across laboratories. Funding Agencies CIHRThe Canadian Nutrition Society
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.077 | 0.066 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".